Dyslexia in Adults/College Students and Accommodations

Dyslexia in Adults/College Students

Most adult dyslexics will exhibit at least 10 of the following traits and behaviors. These characteristics are often inconsistent, and may vary depending upon the day or situation.

Career

Employed in job/position that will hide difficulties or not require dealing with problematic areas.
Hides difficulties from co-workers, friends and even family.
Becomes frustrated at “planning meetings” and sequential tasks – already has the answer and how to do it.
Becomes frustrated or overwhelmed with long forms or sequential processes.
Thrives in careers where visual-spatial/kinesthetic talents can be realized: For example – Entrepreneurs, Engineers, Trades (carpentry, plumbing, electrical), Artisans, Interior Decorating, Actors, Musicians, Police/Investigation, Athletes, and Business Executives (usually with staff/assistants).
May pass up promotions or advancement opportunities that would require more administrative work.
Has difficulty focusing and staying on task – may feel more comfortable managing many different tasks simultaneously.
Difficulty with tests – passing standardized tests can be a barrier to career advancement.
Highly successful/over achiever, or considered “not working up to potential.” Either way, displays extreme work ethic.
May be a perfectionist and overreact when they make a mistake.
Out-of-the-box thinker or operates with very strict rules for themselves.
Learns best through hands-on experience, demonstrations, experimentation, observation, and visual aids.

General

Highly intuitive – known to have “street smarts.” Is often “dead on” in judging personalities of others.
May be able to sense emotions and energy of others.
Remembers struggling in school.
Frequently have dyslexic children and experience guilt when seeing own child struggle. Insecurities arise while reading to own children or helping them with homework.
Easily distracted/annoyed by noises and other things in environment.
May appear to “zone out” and be unaware that it is happening.
Enjoys video games.
Misspeaks, misuses, or mispronounces words without realizing it.
May have poor balance or is/was very athletic.
May have excellent recall of events that were experienced or not remember at all.
May confuse past conversations or be accused of “not listening.”
Difficulty remembering names of people without tricks, but remembers faces.
Difficulty remembering verbal instructions or directions.
Poor recall of conversations or sequence of events.

Reading, Writing, and Spelling

Difficulty reading unfamiliar fonts.
Avoids reading out loud. May dislike public speaking.
Will commonly perceive that they “read better silently.”
Has adopted compensatory tricks to remember spelling and homonyms (their, there, they’re), or misuses homonyms and has poor or inconsistent/phonetic spelling.
Reading fluency and comprehension fluctuates depending upon subject matter.
Frequently has to re-read sentences in order to comprehend.
Fatigues or becomes bored quickly while reading.
Reliance on others (assistants, spouses, significant others) for written correspondence.
Uncertainty with words, punctuation, and spelling when writing. Reliance on spell-check and grammar-check.
Words out of context look “wrong.”
Poor handwriting – masks spelling mistakes.
Writes with all capital letters, or mixes capital letters within words. Abbreviates words frequently.

Math, Time Management, Directions

May understand higher math, but can’t show it on paper.
May excel at math, or may still rely on tricks for remembering math facts.
Relies on calculators or finger counting. May have difficulty with making change.
Difficulty with left/right and/or North, South, East, West.
Gets lost easily or never forgets a place they’ve been.
Difficulty reading maps.
May have anxiety or stress when driving in unfamiliar places. Relies on others to drive when possible.
May lose track of time and is frequently late – or is highly aware of it and is very rarely late.
Finds it difficult to estimate how long a task will take to complete.

Behavior, Health, and Personality

May have a short fuse or is easily frustrated, angered, or annoyed.
Easily stressed and overwhelmed in certain situations.
Low self-esteem.
Self-conscious when speaking in a group. May have difficulty getting thoughts out – pause frequently, speak in halting phrases, or leave sentences incomplete. This may worsen with stress or distraction.
Sticks to what they know – fear of new tasks or any situation where they are out of comfort zone.
Extremely disorderly or compulsively orderly.
Confusion, stress, physical health issues, time pressure, and fatigue will significantly increase symptoms.

Accommodations for College

Given that you now have a high school diploma, your Individual Education Plan (IEP) or 504 Plan may not automatically transfer to your college or university. But, according to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) you are still eligible for accommodations if you so require in order to succeed.

Before college

High school students planning to attend higher education should have a transition plan in place early in high school that addresses academic and vocational goals as well as accommodations that can also be used in college. Consider having a re-evaluation completed with a diagnosis BEFORE leaving high school (i.e., in your senior year) as some colleges and universities will require a recent evaluation in order for you to get services.

Before a student with an IEP or 504 plan graduates high school, the school district is required to complete a Summary of Performance which gives the nature of the student’s disability, an outline of what services they have received at the school, a summary of the progress made, and recommendations for services and/or supports they will continue to need. Books such as the K&W Guide to Colleges For Students With Learning Disabilities or Attention Deficit Disorder, 6th Edition can help students identify schools that specialize in learning disabilities.

What you will need to do to qualify for accommodations

Prior to making application, you may want to talk with someone in admissions or the learning disabilities support office to find out what documentation is required for that school and what kinds of services can be offered.

Be prepared to provide your college or university with recent documentation of your learning disability. Generally, colleges and universities require documentation of a disability within the past three years. Some may request more recent documentation. Be sure you know what that is in case you need to have your skills re-assessed. Child-Testing can help you with a current psycho-educational evaluation and current diagnosis of learning disabilities. Call us for more information (813)468-6528.

Getting Accommodations

Once admitted, get in touch with the Office of Disability Services to discuss accommodations.

Ask where you might find individual tutoring or one-on-one assistance within the system.

Know that the school has the right to refuse an accommodation if it believes it will fundamentally alter its basic mission. This occurs when a student requests a waiver of a graduation requirement, such as an exemption from a foreign language. Most colleges and universities are willing to work with you, though.

Talk with each of your professors about your strengths and weaknesses and your specific learning accommodations.

Demonstrate to your professors that you are serious about your learning – get to class on time, come prepared, do your work, and importantly, if you get behind go see him or her right away!

Types of accommodations you might find helpful:

Priority registration
Housing convenient to classrooms, libraries, assistive technology lab, etc.
Academic tutors
Textbooks in an alternate format
Permission to take tests in a quiet, non distracting environment
Extra time for examinations, tests and quizzes
Extra time to complete all written assignments
Testing over several sessions.
Instructions from professors to be given orally
Review of material presented in class and or assistance with note taking
Audio tapes of books to be listened to for reading assistance
Tape recorded messages and instructions
Reading machines
Screen reading “text-to-speech” computer software
Scanners for entering printed material into the computer
Course substitutions
Reduced course load

When accommodations aren’t honored

Talk to the professor teaching the class.
Get assistance from the Office of Disability Services staff.
Talk with the administrator in the department or to the Dean’s office.
Find out what the school’s internal grievance procedure is and work with the Office of Disability Services to follow it.
In extreme cases, and when none of the above is successful, you can file complaints with the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights or the U.S. Department of Justice for violation of Sections 504 or the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Importantly, be an informed student. Make sure you know your rights when it comes to disability education. You are your best advocate!

Basic rights covered by Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA)

Expands the definition of disability under the orignial Americans with Disabilities Act, preventing discrimination in employment and in public and private settings
Protects children and adults with disabilities
Applies to all public and most private schools and colleges, testing agencies, licensing authorities, and state and local governments

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